


Sunkissed / Moonkissed

by cienfleur



Category: One Piece
Genre: M/M, anyway this goes out to kayla if youre reading this i love you to the moon and back, ha get it, please dont yell at me for not finishing my other two fics i just cant FOCUS SHDFJKSDHF
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-01
Updated: 2018-10-01
Packaged: 2019-07-21 00:52:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16149107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cienfleur/pseuds/cienfleur
Summary: After the god of the sun, Roger, dies, Luffy is chosen as the new god of the sun.  But it turns out, being a god isn't that easy, especially when your power is so coveted.





	Sunkissed / Moonkissed

In the endless expanse of space, there was dust. The dust of the ages, the dust of the cosmos, the dust of Everything. No one knew where it came from, because no one existed, until one day, a pair of hands took the dust and began to form it into shapes, like with clay. They started small, these careful hands creating the stars that peppered the sky. Soon, however, they built up the confidence to start thinking bigger. Planets were formed, Jupiter, Uranus, and Saturn among them. And then there was the Earth, with its grand amounts of greenery and life. The owner of the hands smiled upon its creation before creating two final pieces to the space around it: the sun and the moon. With this, they vanished into dust and nothingness, leaving their world to hopefully prosper.

On the Earth, there were two castles the castle of the sun was made of stone tinted gold, the castle of the moon to its right, made of stone tinted silver. Each of them had stairs leading into the sky. They seemed neverending, but, as with anything else, they did have an end: a single pavilion, a garden with an empty space in the middle. These castles did not belong to the ordinary humans of the Earth. They belonged to the gods themselves, the ones that presided over the rising of the sun and the sinking of the moon, the course of the lapping waves of the shores, and the light and dark of the world.

The god of the sun was known as Roger, a man that was feared by those who didn’t know him, and loved by those who did. He was known for his optimism, his strength, and his dauntlessness. Beneath this king of the sun were three princes, a trio of brothers selected from the populace by Roger in hopes that one of them would someday inherit the sun. The oldest of the three, Ace, was polite unless he or his loved ones were threatened. The second prince was Sabo, a man who treated everyone well, regardless of where they came from. The youngest prince was, many believed, the least qualified for the job: a cheerful and rather naive boy, Luffy would rather have done anything other than his responsibilities. But his brothers loved him for it.

The god of the moon was known as Rayleigh, a wise old man watching over the generations. Like Roger, he was feared but also loved, but he was viewed as much more reclusive and mysterious due to the nature of his job. The only one to know otherwise was Roger, who was extremely close to him, or so the story goes. This man only had one successor, chosen with extreme care from among the people. It was a solemn man named Zoro, someone who had shown up out of nowhere one day and was skilled with blades. This prince kept to himself for the most part, very rarely stepping out of the castle’s walls.

With each passing day, the gods made their ways up to the great pavilion to do what they were chosen to do: raise the sun and moon, respectively. When one’s job was over, the other would take over as the other slept. One day, however, the moon never rose. Instead, the people were greeted by a sky streaked with falling stars, as if the sky itself was crying.

Roger never returned to the castle of the sun, Rayleigh returning to the castle of the moon the following day with a still-moonless sky and an endless darkness. No one dared to ask him why the sun was no longer in the sky, because the answer was apparent. 

Roger had finally died.

-

“He’s DEAD?” Ace’s voice rang in the corridors of the castle with disbelief, his dark eyebrows scrunched together. He knew that it was the fate of all things on Earth to pass, eventually. But gods only passed on every once in a millenia, unless they were killed in battle or by sickness. For a presence that had been in his life since long before he was born to suddenly disappear like that… It didn’t feel right.

Sabo leaned against the cobblestone wall behind him, his eyes fixed on the golden strip of carpet at his feet instead of his brother.

“Rayleigh came by early this morning to tell us the news,” he began sullenly. He was usually the first of the three brothers to get up. “He didn’t say much in terms of how it happened. All he said was that we need to meet him at the pavilion tonight. All three of us.”

Ace’s lingering surprise disappeared with that statement and his clenched fists fell limply to his sides. “... I guess he must be pretty upset about it, too.”

Sabo nodded in response. “He and Roger had been watching over the skies for as long as anyone can remember. I even heard a rumor that they became gods at roughly the same time, and that they were good friends before that.”

“I guess there’s no helping it, then. One of us is going to have to take over that job within the next day or so - we can’t keep everyone on Earth waiting for the sun to rise again,” Ace sighed. “Let’s go get Luffy. Is he still in his room?”

“Yeah, he’s been pretty bent out of shape about the whole thing, poor guy. He was closer to Roger than either of us.”

-

The pair walked through the usually-bustling halls quietly, each of their steps resounding in the silence like thunderclaps until they finally reached Luffy’s room. Sabo put up a hand to knock on the door only to be stopped by Ace.

“You know he’s just gonna tell us not to go in, right?”

Sabo glared at the older brother before knocking anyway. “Hey, Luffy? It’s me and Ace. Can we come in?”

There was the sound of movement from the other side of the door, and then a muffled voice.

“Luffy, we can’t hear y-” Ace began to shout through the door, his hands cupped around his mouth before Sabo spoke up.

“We’re coming in, okay?”

The blonde man reached for the doorknob and twisted it, pulling the door open. Luffy’s room was medium sized and cluttered with things he found on the streets that he thought were cool. Some were really just pieces of trash, while others were genuinely interesting things: small figurines, broken telescopes… There was a wide array of things in the youngest brother’s collection. His favorite thing, however, was a straw hat that he had somehow gotten a hold of one day, refusing to tell either of the brothers how it had happened. Next to the rightmost wall was a bed that was far too large for the boy lying face-down in its pillows on top of it. Luffy was still in his pajamas despite it being so late in the afternoon, the black-haired boy simply wearing a plain, white, short sleeved shirt and a pair of light blue shorts.

Sabo and Ace quietly walked over to the bed, Sabo carefully sitting on the end of it while Ace decided to squat next to where Luffy was so that he could make direct eye contact with him should he finally turn his head.

The silence between the three seemed to last ages, until Sabo finally spoke up.

“Have you ever been to the pavilion, Luffy?”

The younger brother made a quiet “mmmm” noise as he tried to shake his head, despite it still being buried in the fluffiness of a pillow. “We’re not allowed to, remember? Because… Because Roger…” Luffy sniffled before starting to cry. 

Sabo winced, not having intended to make him more upset than he was already. Ace glanced over at Sabo with an irritated look but quickly realized what he was trying to do. As he realized, he turned towards Luffy again, putting on a small smile.

“Do you wanna go see it tonight? It’ll be a fun adventure, don’t you think?”

Luffy sniffled again before finally turning towards his brothers. His face was practically covered in tears and it was blotchy from crying so hard. He nodded intensely and the other two brothers sighed in relief.

“Well, if we’re gonna go, you’d better get dressed,” Sabo told him, standing up again. “We need to get going in the next half an hour, so be quick!”

Sabo exited the room quickly while Ace stayed a moment to ruffle Luffy’s hair. After that, he, too, left, leaving Luffy alone.

-

The grand stairway almost seemed to sparkle in the night air, as if it were made of stars. It was translucent, similar to ice, and its railing was elegant and swirled downwards at its end. The trio of brothers stared up at it in disbelief.

“I had no clue it was this long…” Ace marveled, eyes wide.

“Me neither… maybe we should’ve given ourselves more time to get up there,” Sabo added with a small laugh.

Luffy’s brown eyes were as wide as dinner plates, his fists clenched in front of him in excitement. It seemed as though, at least for the moment, he had dismissed all of his sadness about the situation. The boy took a few steps ahead of his brothers before turning towards them with the biggest smile on his face.

“I’ll race you guys to the top!” He yelled, beginning his ascent quickly.

“HEY!!” both of his brothers shouted, sprinting after him.

It took several minutes for the three of them to reach the top of the stairs, each of them out of breath. Luffy, despite being the one with the shortest legs and also being the youngest, somehow managed to win the race and stood triumphantly in front of his two brothers, who were both grumbling.

“If Sabo hadn’t pushed me I would’ve won…” Ace mumbled.

Sabo looked over at him balefully. “It’s not like you were playing much fairer, you know.”

“You guys are just slow!” Luffy laughed loudly. “You gotta try harder next time, is all!”

“You three seem quite spirited,” a voice interrupted from the shadows.

Instantly, Sabo and Ace stopped fighting and Luffy turned around to look at the newcomer. It was a man with long, silvery hair, his irises like full moons and a strangely round goatee on his chin. Round glasses perched on his nose and a gray cape flowed across his back, striped with black. A sword was at his side, and he faintly radiated light.

Sabo’s eyes lit up with recognition immediately and he quickly got on one knee. “Ah! Your highness, I’m sorry about my br-”

The man cut him off, laughing. “Cut the pleasantries, Sabo. Please, just call me Rayleigh.”

Sabo blinked in surprise before standing up, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment as Ace snickered next to him. Rayleigh looked at each of the boys carefully.

“You must be Ace,” he began, eyes focused intensely on the oldest brother, “and you…”

Luffy made direct eye contact with the man, undaunted by his position of power. The boy kept a steely face, as if he were staring into the god’s soul itself. The corner of Rayleigh’s lip curved upwards into a smile.

“Roger told me a lot about you, Luffy.” Luffy said nothing in response as Rayleigh turned towards the gardens. “Come this way. I need you three to see something.”

The man began walking away from the trio, down a pathway. The three took a moment before finally beginning to follow him, Luffy in front and the other two somewhat far behind. Sabo leaned towards Ace quietly.

“Do you think he’s gonna choose a successor for Roger?” he murmured.

Ace shrugged. “Beats me… If he is, I’ve got my money on myself, though,” he laughed.

Sabo shook his head. “Why would he choose you, dummy? It’s definitely gonna be me. There’s no way I’d ever serve under you OR Luffy, anyway!”

As the pair argued, Rayleigh came back into view. The garden, which seemed much more like a forest, opened up, leading into a circular plaza. The stonework on the ground, much like the stairway, was sparkling and made out of marble. In the middle were two glowing staves, the one on the left being a shimmering gold while the one on the right was a shining silver. Both of them resembled tree roots twisted together in a random fashion, with a small sun and moon on top, respectively. 

A man with startlingly green hair was sitting a few feet away from the moon staff, donning a silver and black robe with a gray shirt underneath along with simple black pants and boots. Three swords laid next to him, and he appeared to be asleep until the four people came into the area. The man opened his one, golden eye and stared at the newcomers, assessing each of them individually. His eye narrowed slightly when he reached Luffy, who stared right back at him.

Rayleigh paced a bit further towards the other man, who was getting up, before turning towards the three princes. “Ace, Sabo, Luffy, this is Zoro. He’s going to be my successor, and, judging by the current situation, it’s going to happen soon.”

Zoro nodded at the trio briefly, saying nothing. Ace, Sabo, and Luffy, however, looked extremely surprised.

“Old g- I mean, Rayleigh, what do you mean it’s going to happen soon? Are you saying you’re gonna die, too?!?” Ace practically shouted.

Rayleigh’s smile faded away with those words. “Roger… He died naturally. Even gods have a time limit, you know?” The man put a palm out and studied it as if he were counting each and every one of the wrinkles. “The two of us are… I mean, were, around the same age. It’s only a matter of time.”

“But, old guy!” Luffy’s voice rang out in the dark, his brothers whirling towards him in a panic. Who calls a god “old guy”? But it was evident that Luffy didn’t care. The boy’s feet were planted on the ground firmly, his hands shaking slightly at his sides. “You can’t… You can’t just give up like that! What if you last longer?”

Rayleigh’s laugh was hollow this time. “Boy, I can tell that I don’t have much longer on this Earth. It’s time to give the torch to the next generation.” As he said those words, he took a jar out of one of his pockets. It fit nicely into his hand, and inside it there seemed to be tiny stars. “Do you know what this is?” He inquired, looking at the trio.

Each of them shook their head. Rayleigh looked back down at the jar and carefully unscrewed the lid. “This is what remains of Roger,” he began, walking towards them. “When us gods die, we don’t leave a body. We disintegrate, every piece of us except for our power disappearing into nothingness. No one knows where the rest of us goes. In order to create the next generation of gods, we anoint our successors with the previous god’s ashes.” The old man then turned toward Luffy. “Luffy… It was Roger’s wish for you to be his successor.”

Sabo and Ace turned toward Luffy with eyes filled to the brim with shock. Never had either of them guessed that their clumsy little brother would become the successor.

“Hey, Rayleigh, are you sure that’s what he sa- OW!” Ace rubbed his shoulder gingerly after Sabo delivered a swift punch.

Rayleigh stayed looking at Luffy, who had his mouth slightly agape. “Yes, that’s exactly what he told me before he passed on. Boy, do you accept?”

Luffy stared up into the man’s silvery eyes, thinking a moment before finally answering.

“...Yeah, sure!”

**Author's Note:**

> i think it's worth noting that at the part where sabo tries to knock on the door i originally had him saying to ace "who do you take me for. rude-asce binch." anyway i wrote this in such a hurry because all at once i was filled with inspiration juice so thanks kayla


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